Gender paper to be presented to the ANC Policy Conference 2012: discussion document

This document is informed by the struggles of women in the fight against colonialism and apartheid which were also encapsulated in the Women’s Charter of 1954. The discussion is also premised on the charter that women drew up in 1993, prior to the 1994 elections. Our Constitution, in its quest to protect and promote gender equality in South Africa, drew largely from these documents

South Africa at 20: The re-awakening of “the left” in post-apartheid South Africa?

As the African National Congress (ANC) pursues a “talk left, walk right strategy”, Stephen Hurt of Oxford Brookes University analyses what “the left” needs to do to become a potent force in South Africa’s politics once again

Book Review - The Lusaka Years: The ANC in Exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994, by Hugh MacMillan

Hugh MacMillan’s comprehensive study of the African National Congress’ (ANC) time in exile in Zambia fills a much-needed gap in the region’s historiography of liberation movements. It also complements the author’s previous work on the ANC’s presence at the University of Zambia

Book Review - The Lusaka Years: The ANC in Exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994, by Hugh MacMillan

Hugh MacMillan’s comprehensive study of the African National Congress’ (ANC) time in exile in Zambia fills a much-needed gap in the region’s historiography of liberation movements. It also complements the author’s previous work on the ANC’s presence at the University of Zambia

The history and politics of liberation archives at Fort Hare

Includes bibliographical references.This thesis, the first of its kind on liberation historiography, seeks to put the liberation movements archives housed at the University of Fort Hare in context. The thesis focuses mainly on the 1990s, when the repatriation of struggle material by Fort Hare working hand in glove with the liberation movements, mainly the African National Congress ANC), the Pan Africanist Congress(PAC) and the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), was at its height

South African managers’ perceptions of black economic empowerment (BEE): A ‘sunset’ clause may be necessary to ensure future sustainable growth

Transformational policies in South Africa, such as black economic empowerment (BEE), have increasingly and inextricably become part of the everyday political, economic and social life of all South Africans since the founding of the new democracy in April 1994. In this regard, South African businesses are subject to a whole array of mandatory regulations which specifically influence their operational capabilities and competitiveness to compete effectively and efficiently in both national and global markets. In a survey among 500 individual managers in South African businesses ranging from small, medium to large multinationals companies, it was found that BEE is well integrated into most of these organisations. However, the mounting resistance to and rejection of BEE that exists at management level can also increasingly be seen at the intellectual level of the population through public discourse in the daily newspapers, in which BEE is essentially viewed as a perpetuation of past injustices. The African National Congress (ANC) government must take cognisance of the negative  influence that BEE has had on South Africa over the last more or less ten years and accept that a ‘sunset’ or termination clause needs to be set before too much further damage is done to the economy of the country and its world competiveness ranking.Key words: transformation, black economic empowerment (BEE),  broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), African National Congress (ANC), competitiveness, sustainable growth, South Afric

Keeping the doors of learning open for adult student-workers within higher education

The Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC), the triumphant South African liberation movement, proclaims that ‘the doors of learning shall be open’ for all. Twenty years since coming to power, the doors of the universities are struggling to stay open for adult student-workers. An action research project into implementation of ‘flexible provision’ at one historically black university is described in response to these realities. Rich experiences from lives of working librarian student-workers illustrate the complex issues that confront individuals, workplaces and institutions in implementing innovative pedagogies within a university

The 2016 local government elections in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa : is Jesus on his way?

Abstract: Post-1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has increasingly allied itself to traditional authorities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Part of the reason for this has been to undermine the support base of the Inkatha Freedom Party. In more recent times, the alliance between chiefs and the ANC has seen them linked to mining interests, often running roughshod over local forms of resistance. In addition, the August 2016 local government elections showed a weakening of ANC support in some of these rural hotspots of KZN, thus creating the possibilities for activists to build alliances anew

The Role and Influence of the IMF on Economic Policy in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy: The 1993 Compensatory and Contingency Financing Facility Revisited

Many commentators have pointed to the 1993 International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, which occurred on the eve of South Africa’s democratic elections, as a key factor in explaining the shift in African National Congress (ANC) economic policy in the 1990s. This argument is now invariably taken for granted. Little understanding of the nature of the Compensatory and Contingency Financing Facility (CCFF) is displayed, nor has any hard evidence been produced to back this argument. Drawing upon previously unseen data and reports from both the National Treasury and the IMF, we show that the IMF loan could not have had such an impact on ANC economic policy thinking

Trade unions and democracy in South Africa: union organisational challenges and solidarities in a time of transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU's Alliance with the African National Congress (ANC) and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, while internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with — and contesting — neoliberal reforms, retaining and re-energizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work